Various - Best Of 2002

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Looks like I had one of these left over. Wish I could say I was excited about returning to the magazine that left such an imprint upon my own critiquing habits, but I've said about all there was to say among all the other prior reviews of their free CDs. Even worse is, despite this being a 'best of' collection of Muzik's choice cuts of the year 2002, it feels so underwhelming compared to their older releases. Something about Best Of 2002 doesn't spring with the same vitality, as though an uncertain dourness had permeated clubland. I look at this track list, and honestly only recognize a couple tunes that could be considered classics nearly two decades on. I know Muzik prided itself on going against the grain and all but DJ Marky & XRS's LK, really? Couldn't clear the rights to any High Contrast jams for your nod to the emergent liquid funk sound?

The first half of this disc always passes me by with a lukewarm 'eh, it's fine' sentiment, with a rather dry Stanton Warrior rub on Time Deluxe's It Just Won't Do opening things up. If your eyes glazed over at the mention of that track, I wouldn't blame ya'. Following that, you get the proggy James Zabiela rub of Röyksopp's Remind Me, which feels more like an excuse to throw in Röyksopp' tune while giving one of Muzik's favoured DJs the extra shine. Again, it's fine, but the best of what 2002 had to offer? Ils shows up at the third position for the requisite nu-skool breaks contribution and if that was the best on the genre's that year, small wonder if collapsed into stagnation so rapdily as it did. It isn't until Kosheen's Hungry pops up that something resembling a proper timeless 'hit' is felt, yet the discourse around that group's long been testy.

And before I went any further in assembling mental notes for this review, I wondered, what was the best of 2002? Who were the movers and shakers of that year? I know my own collection of CDs is the furthest thing from any sort of definitive snapshot but gander at a couple albums: Sasha's Airdrawndagger, Ladytron's Light & Magic, Drexciya's Harnessed The Storm, Stylophonic's Man Music Technology, High Contrast's True Colours, Groove Armada's Lovebox. Not a single tune from any of these could have made Muzik's Best Of 2002? Heck, Legowelt's rippin' Disco Rout appears on two CDs of mine from that year! (note: Coldplay's A Rush Of Blood To The Head came out, if you want to know what the real sound of popularity was at the time)

I know it's an unfair comparison, especially with licensing and all, but it's hard believing tracks from Daniel Diamond, DJ Vitamin D, and X-Press 2 were the best of what 2002 had to offer with clearly stronger tunes available elsewhere. Whatever, at least the emergent Akufen, Vitalic, and post-Emerson Underworld get repped in this compilation.

Various - Muzik Presents Trance Classics

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Yet another trance classics CD, but wait, not all is as it seems! This was a free CD from Muzik Magazine, whom at this late point in the rag’s lifespan was among the UK’s biggest shittalkers regarding the genre. They believed in trance, once upon a time, singing the praises of the hypnotic, melodic side of techno back when so few other prints gave it attention. They promoted the hell out of Dragonfly Records, Platipus Records, Hook Records, and maybe even a mainland Europe label or two. They wrote charming articles regarding the ‘ABCs Of Trance’, and shot a critical eye in the direction of the ‘Crasher Kids phenomenon, sensing the ensuing rot that would bloat the scene to ridiculous levels of caricature. As the year 2002 came to a close, Muzik Magazine realized the battle was lost, their once underdog genre now an entirely different beast, filled with laser-soaked gurning punters with no recollection or care of trance’s history prior to the year 1998. They only had small measures of joy taking snarky potshots at the latest bit of bilge floating about their office for review.

No, wait, that’s not right. In this very same issue, they respectfully give props to Lasgo, marking them as one of the frontline shock-troopers of ‘ecstasy pop’; aka: vocal trance. They just can’t deny the kids like it, eh? Damn it though, they outta’ learn some of that history, so here’s a cheeky free disc of ‘proper’ trance classics that they can listen to while reading up on that Lasgo interview. Clever bastards.

Right, of course all that above is supposition, though makes for a fun little narrative when put in context of Muzik’s history. What more likely happened is Trance Classics comes from an aborted project that was intended for storewide distribution. Remember that [Genre] Muzik Classics series? In conjunction with Beechwood Records, the magazine released a few volumes highlighting the best/important tracks of major genres/scenes, including techno, d’n’b, and, erm, ‘Ibiza’. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had a Trance Muzik Classics in the works before cutting ties with the dodgy print, but man, what to do with all those licensed tunes you got? Save ‘em for later, I guess; maybe a free CD down the road.

As Trance Classics was curated by a British magazine, you’re damn right this is su-u-u-per biased to their homegrown talents. Simon Berry gets three tracks alone (you know which ones), while Enervate and 1998 (Binary Finary Remix) make their requisite appearances. Germany does get a look in with Metal Master’s Spectrum (Hoffmann and Väth), plus Paul van Dyk’s rub of Qattara’s Come With Me. At the harder end of the trance stadium, a lesser-known Chris Cowie hit crops up with X-Cabs’ Infectious, while Trade anthems Shinny from Elevator and Are Am Eye? from Commander Tom round things out. And finally, no Dutch nonsense, which makes this Trance Classics a zillion times better than ten volumes of A State Of Trance Classics.

Various - Tracks From The Best Dance Albums Of All Time

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Best tracks of all time? Pft, everyone does those, Mixmag in fact doing the deed just a few months prior to this issue of Muzik Magazine. Figuring out what the best long-players of dance culture, however, was apparently something no one did before, so claimed the editor’s blurb within. Given how inundated with such lists we now are, I find that hard to believe, but then it’s not like electronic music had as long a history as rock did. By the year 2002, EDM journalism was barely a decade old, most rags giving their dutiful Best Of The Year lists and leaving it at that. Still, those darn winter months, they’re slow for news, so here’s a trusty cliché article to get through February.

The list is actually interesting, even if the choices are rather predictable. Each producer or act is offered a lone entry, their definitive release as it were; except The KLF, both albums Chill Out and White Room making the cut, because they’re The K-L-f’n-F, y’heard. Obvious albums like Leftism, Sheet One, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, and Dummy rub shoulders with artifacts like Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express, Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing. Then-current hits like Felix Da Housecat’s Kittens & Thee Glitz and Roots Manuva’s Run Come Save Me share space with old classics like Depeche Mode’s Violator and Soul II Soul’s Club Classics Volume One. Hip hop gets its due with Missy Elliot, Eminem, and Public Enemy representing. And while I generally agree with Muzik’s selections, no doubt others will find contention with the chosen LPs of the scene’s biggest names. Reverence over Sunday 8pm? Blue Lines over Mezzanine? Exit Planet Dust over Dig Your Own Hole? Play over Everything Is Wrong? Accelerator over Lifeforms? Ima over ESCM? Selected Ambient Works 85-92 over Selected Ambient Works Volume 2? Ray Of Light over anything else in Madonna’s discography?

I could go on and on about this list, but self-imposed word count dictates I must talk about the free CD Muzik included with this issue. Yeah, it’s a good collection of tunes, a decent enough representation of the list without having to break the bank with licensing fees. As DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing….. scored the top honors, it’s only appropriate his track What Does Your Soul Look Like kicks things off. From there we get some bleep techno courtesy of LFO, some collage shenanigans courtesy of Negativland, and some trip-hop action from Tricky. Pet Shop Boys’ Can You Forgive Her? is given a deep house rub by MK (or, as the kids call this style now, ‘future house’), Timber from Coldcut & Hexstatic provide the requisite Ninja Tune showing, while Rae & Christian’s Swansong (For A Nation) sends us out.

Also, holy cow, UK bias much with this disc? Out of the eleven tracks, seven hails from the UK, three reside in the USA, and a lone Icelandic lady round out the rest. I bet she could beat them all at soccer.

Aldrin - Singapore Tribal

Muzik Magazine: 2001

After a solid string of free CDs from Muzik Magazine, Singapore Tribal was such a letdown. No cool new sounds like electroclash. No tasty club hits like Chocolate Puma or Bent. No exposure to UK exports like grime or nu-skool breaks. This was just house music - kinda’ dark, a bit like the opening portions of a (then) recent Danny Tenaglia mix, but well outside my interests. If I was gonna’ get down to a brooding, dubby mix of house-based grooves, I’d get my fix from the prog camps, not this ‘tribal’ thing. Thus Singapore Tribal languished in my collection for years upon years, not even roused for a pity play. And finally, now forced to revisit Aldrin’s mix for Muzik Magazine, I must kick thyself with much gusto and shame, for oh Lord what I wouldn’t give to hear something like this out in this day of age!

I should have had more faith in Muzik, having bestowed upon Aldrin Quek praises like “Best New DJ” and “one of the world's finest residents”, referring to his home behind the decks at Zouk in Singapore. Clearly I wasn't ready for this sort of house in my life, but I also single out two other factors that soured me to Aldrin's mix CD. First, the mastering is rather rough, with frequent clipping of bass kicks. Maybe Aldrin prefers a gritty, muddy sound in his sets, but having grown used to crystal clear dynamics from Digweed mixes, I wasn't vibing on it at the time. Second, a big piece of this CD’s promotion went into a big new remix for Inner City's Big Fun, which is a big ol' bore as far as I'm concerned. The fact I'm certain none of y'all have hear of D-Wynn's tech-house rub of the Saunderson classic only proves trend-hopping remixes are seldom worth the hype. Ultimately though, Singapore Tribal didn't do it for me because I expected compilations from my free Muzik CDs, not DJ mixes. How dare a UK magazine not meet a single young Canadian adult’s expectations!

Master Sky Fairy willing though, age grants us the wisdom to learn from our earlier follies, and I came around to the sounds Aldrin was pushing. It still doesn't excuse me from ignoring a solid mix CD from Mr. Quek for so many years, but I'm pleasantly surprised that Singapore Tribal pleasantly surprised me with this playthrough. While the mastering is still too rough for my liking, and that Big Fun remix is still a big bore as a closer, the rest is pure dopeness. Thumping tribal business from Peace Division and Khaimar, chugging dub work from Jeff Bennett, bumpin’ tech-house from Jay Tripwire, and deep acid groove from Aldrin himself easily makes up for the few weak moments. Aldrin's mixing is mostly smooth throughout, momentum kept on the up such that one can easily get locked into a sweaty groove in a hot underground climate. Damn, I want to hear this stuff at a club again...

Gilles Peterson - Broken Folk Funk Latin Soul

Muzik Magazine: 2003

The title's a pisstake. It must be. True, the music within this CD does fit the mould of what a 'broken folk funk Latin soul' collection would sound like, but using five descriptors as a genre is plain ol' silly. Not that Gilles Peterson couldn't get away with it though. As the guy who coined the term ‘acid jazz’ when he threw events called Acid Jazz promoting material on his label Acid Jazz, why not go for the ultimate in redundancy, especially as everyone was making up ridiculous genre names for magazine CDs? Muzik had released a 'hooligan house' disc just prior, while rival Mixmag featured 'disco d'nb' with their freebie the same month this came out. Damn it, The UK, stop trying to invent new genre names all the time. It's too confusing for us North American bumpkins.

Wait, is this the first time I’ve talked about Mr. Peterson at this blog? Crap, gotta’ turn this review proper serious now. Not only was he influential in making acid jazz a thing in Britain, but he exposed many a young ‘90s English post-clubber onto various cultured music scenes from the world abroad. Mostly they were jazz fusions from the realms of New York, Latin America, and Afro Nation, but he helped bring some degree of class to the UK’s early garage movement too. No matter how far off the beaten path his records were culled from, ol’ Gilles always kept one foot in London’s urban jungle too.

Still, if you’ve a passion for bringing such music to a willing audience, heading an influential label and DJing out at events is limiting. Nay, to reach the maximum potential earholes, one must go to the airwaves, radio that is. And, at the turn of the millennium, that’s what Mr. Peterson done did, getting him a show called Worldwide on the omnipresent Radio 1 of BBC fame, which he’s maintained to this day. It was about the time this Muzik CD came out that Gilles had firmly cemented itself as a broadcaster on peer with the likes of Tong and Peel, even earning himself an award for Top Radio Show from the magazine that year. Why yes Broken Folk Funk Latin Soul is totally designed to promote that fact, why do you ask?

More compilation than DJ mix, this disc holds a nice assortment of the movers and shakers of the UK’s jazzy urban-soul that consistently bubbled in London’s underground. Mr. Scruff is here! Harmonic 33 is here! The Cinematic Orchestra is here! Roots Manuva is here (because he was everywhere in the early ‘00s)! Talib Kweli’s here! Nirvana’s here! …er, I mean, their song Come as You Are is here, by way of a soul cover care of Dani Siciliano. There’s also conscious rap from Lone Catalysts, jazzdance from Micatone, soul-shuffle jazz from Kuusumun Profeetta, and a cool groove thing by some duo called Underworld. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? You haven’t? Oh, you’re here for that Osunlade joint. Fair play.

Various - Tunes Of The Year 2001

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Though stuck in the hinterlands of Canada for a while, my job at a music shop kept me a step ahead of my pals on many things electronic music orientated. Such was the perk of receiving promotional material with every order, scouring about for intriguing new artists and albums. What’s that, Nu-Skool Nick, you’ve found an online music hub called Napster where you can download anything you want? That’s nice to hear, but do you know what you want to hear? It’s one thing to snag up older discographies, but what about the new hotness? Plus, you gotta wait for someone to upload that shit anyway, and the only way to do that is after someone buys a physical copy first (occasional leaks notwithstanding). And there was only one place in town to go if you wanted new music as soon as it hit the Rupert streets. Well, okay, a couple places, but I was the only place that’d order underground electronic music. So bow to my superior knowledge of the scene, fellow Rupert people, bwahaha!

Then I left, started reading Muzik Magazine, and discovered I knew jack shit about anything. Oh, sure, we had Mixer over here, and a few forums helped fill out some blanks, but most of what we got was still the heavily promoted names, sounds, and DJ mixes anyone could find in a typical HMV ‘electronica’ section. All the coverage Muzik provided showed there was a layer of electronic music few on my side of the pond bothered with, and in my OCD way of wanting to learn everything, eagerly consumed their gospel.

Such blind faith wasn’t earned without some effort though. While I enjoyed the print, those first couple free CDs weren’t enough to convince me outright Muzik was better than others. Then came the January 2002 issue, which included a CD spotlighting the best tunes of 2001. Before even looking at the names or tracks, I questioned the point of such a collection when the previous CD was already a “Best Of” based on Muzik’s awards; plus, I barely knew any of the names. New Order, of course; Slam, definitely; Björk, absolutely; Timo Maas, I think so. And yet, I hadn’t heard anything essential from these names, much less new-to-my-eyes acts like Chocolate Puma, Bent, The Rhythm Masters, or Bel Amour. Surely Muzik was stretching their notions of what constituted essential.

Hell no, they were totally right. Between prog, house (of all sorts), downtempo, and breaks, their selections opened the lid on what I thought clubbing music could entail. All those drab ‘Crasher and Cream discs didn’t deserve their shelf space if it was holding back Ashley Beedle’s remix of Always or glorious disco-loop house like Agent Sumo’s 24 Hours. If Muzik was in the know about such ace material unheralded in the Americas, then their other recommendations had to be mint as well. Thus began my downloading campaign from them, and all those Mixed Goods discs. Yay.

Various - Fifteen Years Of Turnmills: A Retrospective Mixed By Tall Paul

Muzik Magazine: 2001

The November 2001 issue of Muzik was the first one I ever bought, for no better reason than I had no other options for my monthly electronic music reportage at the time. My usual purchase, Mixer, was nowhere on the shelves – not that I blame the New York City based rag to fall behind a bit, what with that whole 9/11 event and all. And my sampling of Mixmag the month before only showed me how ass that magazine generally was (ace free CD notwithstanding). Thus when I saw a cover featuring Kosheen (ooh, Sian Evans as a sexy pseudo-goth!), plus a cheeky Adam Freeland quote of, “I challenge Oakenfold to mix two breakbeat records”, I figured it’d be worth a shot.

And lo’, after reading (most) of this magazine front to back, I asked the heavens, where had Muzik been all my life? Not being sold in Rupert, that’s where! Who’d have thought I’d need to retreat deeper into British Columbian territory to find a British music magazine that delivered all that I ever wanted – smart reviews, interesting interviews, snarky humour, exciting exposés, celebrity mixtapes, quirky club gossip, and that. But wait, what’s this? A free CD like Mixmag, but with Tall Paul as a guest DJ? I know that guy, he’s the really tall DJ named Paul that a few of my house-lovin’ Rupert pals were into. There’s even a tune on it that I’d been searching for and wasn’t on some dodgy euro-dance compilation: BBE’s Seven Days And One Week. Man, who cares about the rest of the magazine, I’ll slap down the $12 I really couldn’t afford at the time regardless!

Shame this Fifteen Years Of Turnmills mix is utter pants. The Tall one didn’t make things easy for himself trying to sum up one-point-five decades of a club night into the tiny microcosm of a mix CD, given the disparate roads electronic music had taken in that time. It makes good sense opening with the disco-garage soul of Fire Island’s There But For The Grace Of God, but how do you get to Tony de Vit’s big-gay anthem Burning Up in between? When you’re cramming in piano progressive house like Outrage’s That Piano Track, tribal tech-house of Sil’s Windows 98 (yo, Olav!), Ferry Corsten’s rub of Madagascar (one of my most hated tunes back in the day – fuck standing around doing jack shit), his own slice of anthem house in Rock Da House, plus Jark Prongo’s Moving Through Your System on the ten-millionth CD I own (only third, you hyperbolic twit), you’re looking at a rough mix. Oh yeah, and the mixing between tracks is pretty rough throughout too.

Okay, I’m ragging on this CD more than necessary; after all, it’s just a freebie. Fortunately, Muzik’s record on these CDs would turn out much better than that initial impression gave me, which only sweetened the deal with every issue I bought going forward with the magazine. T’was a love that lasted forever after.

Various - Muzik Magazine Dance Awards 2001 Vol. 1: The Party

Muzik Magazine: 2001

It’s gotta’ be quite the ego boost holding your own awards ceremony, convincing others your insights and rankings hold weigh over others in the same field of expertise. Music journalism’s no different, nearly every rag with even marginal sway taking time out of their regular reporting for yearly ‘Best Of’ articles. If they have enough financial backing, they can even hand out little trophies at parties! I think the only electronic music magazines that still have that sort of clout are Mixmag and DJMag, but during clubbing’s last commercial peak at the turn of the millennium, several others got in on that action too, including Muzik.

Well, if there's any rag's awards I'd trust, it'd be Muzik's. I can't recall off-hand who won what, though Norman Cook, Sasha, and some bloke from New Order were on the cover, so they must have won something – maybe that cigar Sasha’s smoking? Oh, and a trashy looking Erol Alkan posing with his Best New DJ/Clubnight/Something trophy was hi-lar-ious!

With any music awards, there must also be a music CD spotlighting tunes. There were two giveaways with the awards issue, though us folks in the Americas only got The Party disc – some licensing hiccup denied us the other option, turns out. From what Lord Discogs tells me, we weren't missing much with The Future disc, what with names like PMT, Chris Coco, and Dirty Vegas in that track list. Not too hot a prediction regarding tastemakers of tomorrow on Muzik's part there, though at least they got that James Holden chap right.

Muzik Magazine Dance Awards 2001 Vol. 1: The Party features the sort of tracks you’d expect to rake in ‘Best Of’ lists for that year. Felix da Housecat’s Madam Hollywood, Fatboy Slim’s Star 69 by way of a techy remix, Röyksopp’s Eple, Stanton Warriors’ Da Virus, and Danny Tenaglia’s rub of Depeche Mode’s I Feel Loved all make the cut. Also, the track list offers a solid snapshot of all the trendy sounds running around the UK that year. Oxide & Neutrino’s Nuff Of Dem Watch Me shows off the emergent grime scene, Silicone Soul’s The Answer gets its groovy deep tech-house soul moving, trip-hop’s still in cool-mode thanks to Goldfrapp’s Utopia, and them th’ar nu skool, nu-nu-skool breaks have their moment thanks to Plump DJs’ Big Groovy Funker. Aw yeah, it’s like I’m playin’ Wipeout Fusion all over again!

Of course, anyone with a solid ear to the ground in 2001 would have gotten most of these tunes anyway. Well, maybe not that Warren Clarke Mix of Banda Sonora’s Guitarra G - while some seriously funky Latin Balearic house music, disco and French house were the king and tyrant of club land. This only helps prove that Muzik, for as snarky and off-base they could sometimes be, at least tried their damndest to promote fresh, unheralded sounds. I’ve yet to find a comparable replacement in contemporary EDM journalism, and maybe never will. Guess I’ll just continue ripping off their quips.

Various - Muzik Classics: Techno

Beechwood Music: 1999

Bliminy crimely, geezer, is this one mint collection. A two-CD pack spotlighting just about every important person in the world of early techno, complete with detailed liner notes at a wonderful Beechwood budget price. No, wait, come back! This isn't your typical crap Beechwood compilation of one-third recognizable tunes, and the rest a pile of no-name mock-ups. Rather, Muzik Magazine handled the tracklisting, as part of a short-lived series promoted by the rag showcasing classics of electronic music yore. There was one for drum 'n bass, one for Ibiza anthems, and finally this one for techno. Shame they didn't keep going to include trance, though there was that one free-CD they gave out a few years after.

While I've given Muzik plenty of props in the past, they deserve extra-so for these discs. Aside from a few top tier DJs, techno as a whole was on something of a downswing in the late ‘90s, other genres and scenes the current hotness as far as the clubbing world was concerned. Trance, house, progressive, d’n’b, breaks (nu-skool or big beat), UK garage: these were all far more comparably popular in record stores. Techno was what you’d play late-late at night, and usually only the hard, bangin’ stuff. If some dewy-eyed young punter stumbled upon Muzik Classics: Techno and learned somthing, then the magazine had done its job in providing positive education for the kids (including Slam’s Positive Education on here).

As this is a retrospective on techno’s formative years, all the significant regions of the time are accounted for: Detroit, UK, Germany, Detroit, other US cities, Detroit, Belgium, Detroit, Detroit, Canada by way of Detroit, and Detroit; sorry, Japan, you were a little late to the techno game for this box set. The tracklist features nearly every classic you should have heard of at some point, including Strings Of Life, Red 2, Circus Bells, Flash, Energy Flash, Spastik Flash, Acpreience 1 Flash, plus a flash of electro from Cybotron’s Clear. More interesting are the lesser known cuts and aliases from prominent producers, such as 69’s Jam The Box (Carl Craig), F.U.S.E.’s Substance Abuse (Hawtin), Dark Comedy’s War Of The Worlds (Kenny Larkin), and Aphrohead’s In The Dark (Felix da Housecat, although it’s the Dave Clarke Mix in this case).

Muzik Classics: Techno also serves as a handy bluffer’s guide to the various sub-genres within that scene. Dub techno gets its nod from Phylyps’ Trak II and P.A.S.’ Booster, minimal is repped by DBX’ Losing Control (plus Hawtin, of course), the ravey stuff is handled by CJ Bolland’s Horsepower, acid gets an additional look from Laurent X’s Machines, and even sample-heavy ambient tribal-techno has its moment from Bandulu’s Guidance. Oh, and lots of Detroit techno too.

Is this the most comprehensive collection of classic techno you’ll ever find? Nah, guy, the whole of Lord Discogs is your bet for that. For something more physical and affordable, however, this double-discer’s definitely one of the better starting points on learning the roots of the genre.

Various - Red Jerry: Late Night Drive Mix

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Oh look, we're back in 2002, and Muzik Magazine's been kind enough to rope in Hooj Choons godfather Red Jerry in for a mix. With that, you instantly know this is gonna be a good ol' prog-athon, of the deep, dark, (dull?), tribal bent. After enduring such a long stretch of plodding McProg beats, this'll be a breath of fresh air. Still, kind of odd seeing a mix CD of such music featured on Muzik’s part, as they were starting their snarky “lol, prog is boring, grime’s the mint, mate!” phase when this came out.

Fortunately, Mr. Dickens provides an excellent freebie of a set. He’d already made a number of mixes the few years prior, including constructing deeper offerings for the Euphoria series from Telstar TV. Curiously, Late Night Drive Mix is one of the last CDs he put out. Heck, his entire discography quickly dries up shortly after this, possibly due to Hooj Choons shutting down the year after. I’ll grant he was more of a label runner than a producer or DJ, but considering the dominance Hooj held over the progressive scene, its sad things ended so limply for him. Oh well, I hear he still DJs here and there, likely caning out classic Hooj with aplomb.

As for Late Night Drive Mix, yeah, it’s 2002 prog, so you get some deep tribal cuts like Creamer & K’s Pipeline Mix of Blackwatch’s Foreshadow, Joshua Collins’ Phonosynthesis, Peace Division’s R U Somewhere, and 16B’s Escape. Meanwhile, Smith and Selway’s dubby chugger Yess makes for a strong mid-set peak, and a Tony Thomas tribal mix of 16B’s The Game hits another high point near the end. Good vibes, all said, especially for those 3am cruises down urban streets in search of an all-night beef noodle house (or the afterparty). I’m still bummed this sound fell off to the degree it did (deep tech-house just ain’t as fun), but maybe we’ll start seeing a retro-return in short order. It has been a decade since it was in vogue, after all.

What gives this freebie CD an extra bit of class over most ‘dark prog’ of the time is the inclusion of breaks and even electro. While it may not be surprising to find PMT’s remix of Creamer & K’s Wish You Were Here in the early going (deep prog breaks!), Anthony Rother shows up at the end with Red Light District. Okay, it’s an obvious cut too (Danny Tenaglia ended his Athens Global Underground with it), but it fits the feel of Late Night Drive Mix wonderfully, and makes for a great blend into the Smith & Selway remix of David Alvardo’s Blue, itself an excellent, pulsing slice of space-dub prog.

So perhaps not the most unique prog mix you’ll find out there, but for a freebie, Red Jerry gave Muzik a definite keeper for folks fancying this sort of sound. Definitely worth a pick-up if you see it lying about cheap in a used shop.

Various - Dirty Vegas: Homelands 2002 Preview

Muzik Magazine: 2002

So this Homelands music festival, it was a big deal in the UK? The way Muzik Magazine went on about it sure made it seem like a big deal. I never heard much about it outside of the rag’s articles, but then I do live on the other side of the hemisphere. Odds are I’m not gonna hear about every single music festival in the British Isles, though I have heard of plenty famous ones: Glastonbury, Reading, Creamfields, Global Gathering, and the like. Apparently Homelands reached upwards of 35, 000 punters, respectable numbers but, turns out, unsustainable, as the brand ended around 2006. I've no idea why the festival folded, nor does cursory Google searches reveal much either. Did it just grow too big for its own good? Should'a kept it smaller, like our Shambhala festival. It’s still going strong, bringing in all the UK's big breaks acts for years now, yeah yeah! [2023 Edit: Shambhala's humble attendence numbers may no longer be valid]

I guess Muzik had an advertising deal with Homelands, hence all the plugging for it going on with the particular issue this free CD came with. Oh, they included write-ups for other summer festivals too, but not to the degree they did for Homelands. I wonder if it was as spectacular as they made it out to be; anyone have stories? Whatever, let's focus on what Dirty Vegas provides for an uber-festival preview.

Hey wait! Dirty Vegas! You remember them, right? They of the super-mega hit Days Go By, made famous by a snappy car commercial (I can't recall which one now – t'was over a decade ago). Seeing as how I don't own any of their proper releases, maybe I should go into a little detail about the group while I have the chance. Um... they had a super-mega hit called Days Go By (made popular by a snappy music video). Few gave a flute about their following debut album though, even less about their sophomore effort. They then practically disappeared for years, returning with a third album on OM Records a couple years back. Did you know that? I sure didn't. Boy, for a group seemingly destined for super-stardom, did they ever fizzle out. Kinda like those other early ‘00s hopefuls Fischerspooner, come to think of it.

Alright, back to the Homelands Preview. Some big names on this mix for sure, as the filthy folks from Nevada (South London) aimed for a set that built hot anticipation for the acts many could catch at the festival: Hernan Cattaneo, Royksopp, Basement Jaxx, Carl Cox, Slam, and X-Press 2 amongst others. The music itself is, um, quite prog for the first half – hey, it was 2002. Breaks care of Stanton Warrior’s Da Antidote 2 (The Unreleased Mix), liquid funk d’n’b on Peshay’s You Got Me Burning, and a funkier jam in Timo Maas’ To Get Down add variety at the end, but Homelands Preview doesn’t stray far from the unexpected. Except for those mooing cows when the music finishes - gotta capture that proper festival vibe, after all.

Various - Heroes! Rewind!

Muzik Magazine: 2003

Muzik Magazine was nearing its one-hundredth edition and, like any long-running music publication, was straining for original content. What had once been a fun, if somewhat snarky, alternative to Mixmag, was now (then) turning into just another electronic music rag, floundering to find the next genre zeitgeist to help push papers from newsstands. And when the scene doesn’t provide such material for coverage, there’s only one thing left to do: retrospectives.

But Muzik had done a “Top 50 Dance Albums” issue just a year prior – a similar article would be redundant (to say nothing of Mixmag’s 2001 “Top 100 Tracks …Ever” list, which ranked Energy 52’s Café Del Mar tops …such innocent times). Instead, they opted for a look back at influential musicians of the dance music scene’s past; in this case, focusing on ‘80s acts that helped define club music. The article included such names as Kraftwerk, Prince, New Order, Larry Levan, Run DMC, and, um, Madonna.

One can't detail such influential musicians without some audio support though, so for that month's free CD, Muzik rounded up a number of current players and shakers and got them to make cover versions of classic cuts. I think. Maybe these covers had already existed and Muzik simply managed to gather the rights to use them here. I can't recall the specifics from that issue (its sadly missing from the .pdf archive) and I’m lazy, so no verifying the track release dates in Lord Discogs.

The CD includes thus: two covers of Prince; one of Joy Davidson (Squarepusher doing the honors – it’s not as frenetic as you’d expect); that wacky Señor Coconut having a go at Kraftwerk's Showroom Dummies; Rae & Christian getting their Funkadelic on; an almost unneeded stab at Marl Melle's White Lines by Grandmaster Flash; and hopelessly obscure duo Open Door take on Pink Floyd's Breathe. As a pet project, all these interpretations are perfectly fine, some of which you could even play out today if you're up for turning heads.

Oddly, Muzik didn't fully commit to their 'covers' idea, as few original tunes show up too, all from the relative new '90s new school of electronic music. LTJ Bukem's Music is here, though in stupid edited form. DJ Sneak's You Can't Hide From Your Bud is here, truly an important record for the filter-loop house movement, but out of place on this disc. Coldcut also shows up with Atmoic Moog 2000, though in a funkier form compared to the one I'm familiar with. And finally, Soul II Soul shows up with an exclusive track titled Soul II Soul Special. I've never been fond of the group though, so moving on.

Oh wait, that's all, isn't it. Not a long freebie, this one, and not the strongest collection of music either without the accompanying article detailing why these producers are represented here as heroes of the past. Then again, if you know your electronic music history, you likely don't need such an article to begin with.

Various - Groove Armada: The Dirty House Session

Muzik Magazine: 2002

Most of the free CDs music magazines gave out often had some sort of article tie-in: year-end retrospectives, hot new genre exposes, etc. I'm at a loss as to why Muzik tapped Groove Armada for a mix CD though. The duo was between albums, and their commercial clout had significantly dwindled in the time since Vertigo, only Superstylin’ having made any kind of impact in the interim that I can remember (were they still a big deal in the UK?). Muzik itself had seen a revamp on the issue this CD came with, but nothing hints at celebrating that accomplishment here. Even the cover’s all about The Chemical Brothers, nothing to do with a ‘dirty house’ session from the London boys. Really, the only thing I remember from the April 2002 print was Muzik’s panning of Boards Of Canada’s Geogaddi - the sheer audacity of even going there, mang! Incidentally, they also gave “tulip trancemaster” Tiësto’s debut In My Memory the same score; Boards and Tijs, on the same level? Scandalous.

Alright, I’m getting bogged down in that back issue. I need to stop that, but unfortunately The Dirty House Session isn’t terribly interesting, even as a freebie. Whatever the reason behind Muzik calling up Andy Cocup and Tom Findlay for a mix CD, the duo didn't put much effort into it.

Assembled in a day, it's primarily a collection of tribal funk house, the sort of thing they claim one might hear were you to catch them at a club. Ugh, not with that kind of mixing, I wouldn't. This is Oakenfold levels of beatmatching, in that sometimes there's none at all. Might it be that they figured that's just what their audience expected of them? They'd already released a DJ mix prior to this one for Back To Mine, and were due to release one for the AnotherLateNight series as well; both tend to have chill, laid-back, mixtape vibes going for them.

Whatever. It’s not that bad. So what if the minimalistic funk-breaks of Duji’s Be Careful What You Say abruptly ends, going into the ambient ‘sleepy Ibiza mix’ of Planet Funk’s Inside All The People? Yeah, that’s a silly thing to do for your very first mix, but the tunes are fine at least.

Yes, tunes. As said, tribal and funk jams are the name of Groove Armada’s game, and though the mixing’s pants for the most part, I still vibe fine on Essa’s dubby Africans In Space (it’s like if Sandoz did house!), or a shufflin’ groove remix of Armada’s own Superstylin’. This is ‘dirty house’ though? Fine, electro house was still in its infancy, not even really a thing yet (Satisfaction only came out that same year). Folks weaned on sleazy, trashy house music that came to dominate the term ‘dirty house’ will find a decided lack of it here. No, this is all about shakin’ those hips and ass, girl. What else can you expect from a loopy funky house track called Rumpfunk?

Various - Erol Alkan Presents: One Louder

Muzik Magazine: 2003

I'm surprised Erol Alkan's career never blew up beyond underground darling. Of course, his refusal to hop on the production wagon until recently probably hurt, but ol’ Erol’s brand of bangers and mash-ups was popular with both the discerning punter and slop-drunk clubber, sets finding that sweet spot of commercial familiarity and underground obscurity. Still, what started as an exercise in cleverness quickly descended into bad gimmickry, and as one of the driving forces of the mash-up scene, Mr. Alkan unfortunately got tied at the hip with it.

It was easy to fall sway to that scene though, as it presented something quite refreshing in that oh-so fun year of 2003. DJ mixes were, for the most part, tediously predictable, so it blindsided many when jocks started raiding glories of dancefloors past, rinsing them out almost seamlessly with music of the present. Okay, the '80s revival was in full swing at that point too, so finding the links wasn't difficult; however, to hear classics not as retro radio fodder, but as vital components of contemporary nights out was magnificent.

Getting back to Mr. Alkan, One Louder isn't his official first commercial DJ mix (that honor going to A Bugged Out Mix). Rather, it was a freebie given away with Muzik Magazine, who were all up on his jock back then. One Louder itself was a short-lived club night that Alkan attended, pushing this particular style of genre mash-up before it ever got popular. In lieu winning their Breakout Artist Award that year, Muzik finally convinced him to release a mix CD, which he decided to dedicate to that club night.

Free magazine CDs are often hit or miss, typically hitting the “eh, 'tis fine” mark. Not this time out. One Louder is exceptionally good, almost too good for a freebie. It has a solid start with the always welcome disco punk classic Make It Happen from Playgroup, but not three tracks in we're treated to Duran Duran's Girls On Film of all things. Duran Duran? In 2003!? You bet, care of the Night Version that made the tune club friendly back in the ‘80s, in no way sounding out of place on this mix. And the choice material keeps coming fast and furious.

Codec & Flexor show a little club swagger with Crazy Girls. Goldfrapp’s Train and Benassi’s Satisfaction get mashed together. Goldrun’s remix of Grand Popo Football Club’s Men Are Not Nice Guys will get your gurn on. A string of thrashy techno calls back those crazy times when guys like Vitalic were thrilling and new. And, if all that wasn’t enough bedlam, Alkan closes out with a freakbeat punk cover of Harder Better Faster Stronger, an utterly mental and ace way to end a set on.

Despite One Louder being an old free CD, it’s still worth dropping down some cash if you happen upon it in a used store. It’s about as much club-trash fun you can have in a mere hour.

Various - Dance To The Underground

Muzik Magazine: 2003

Right, disco punk. I fell head over heels for the stuff when it first (re)emerged in the early 00s, largely thanks to this free CD from Muzik Magazine. Well, that and the rag’s glowing exposé on the ascendant scene that James Murphy and his DFA label helped popularize. Though electroclash still had some momentum, the writing was on the wall the genre wasn’t going to last much longer. So, here comes disco punk to pick up the pieces!

Where it excelled - and for me appealed - was refining the DIY attitude clashcorewhatever did into something musically intuitive. It still sounded raw and intentionally under produced, but rather than borrow from electro synth pop, it borrowed from disco-funk and new wave rock. It made perfect sense to be heard in dingy basement clubs that held no more than a hundred, served cheap hi-balls and forced you to share but one single-stall bathroom with the opposite sex. It’s about as punk as club culture ever allowed itself to be, and for someone having just moved back to the big city, I was sold on the romanticism this New York City bred scene projected.

A CD like this didn’t hurt either. Mixed by DFA, it’s not a brilliant set, but it is an excellent primer into the world of disco punk as it existed in 2003. All the heavy hitters are accounted for: Metro Area, The Juan MacLean, Playgroup, The Rapture, Le Tigre, and both James Murphy projects DFA and LCD Soundsystem. Oh, and Fischerspooner’s Emerge is here as well, but in DFA’d remixed form, turned into quite a minimalist bit of dance music compared to the raucous original. About the only thing missing from this list is a band with exclamation marks.

Given the amount of DFA remixes and label mates, Dance To The Underground probably seems more like a promotional disc than a proper showcase of disco punk. To be fair, DFA pretty much was disco punk in that year, and their influence led to the rise of the scene proper as it migrated out from New York City. It’d be like complaining about a free CD of late 80s acid house that prominently featured artists from Trax Records.

Dance To The Underground has gone on to be one of my favorite pre-party sets. The only thing keeping me from recommending it is the fact it’s not a commercially available disc. It’s not a difficult collection of tracks to gather up anyway, many available through various channels or ‘best of disco punk’ compilations. Aside from the DFA remixes, there’s nothing monumentally unique about this a decade on. Even the mixing’s only adequate because, well, it’s just a free magazine CD. It might be worth dropping a couple dollars if you find it super-cheap in a used shop though, if you don’t mind paying for something that was initially given away to sell magazines.

That doesn’t seem very punk, does it?